Save Connecticut's Children

October 19, 1992

Connecticut's children are endangered: One-quarter of those under age 6 have excessive levels of lead in their blood. Ten percent of newborn babies have been exposed to alcohol or illegal drugs before birth. And one of four children under age 2 in Hartford and New Haven has not received proper immunizations.

Those figures are cited by the Connecticut Commission on Children, which is trying to enlist parents and business leaders in a campaign to ensure that children are ready to learn when they enter kindergarten. Because of poor health, family breakdown and limited social skills, one-fourth of Connecticut's children entering kindergarten are not prepared to learn, according to the commission.

Thousands of children live in environments in which they are exposed to the effects of AIDS, drugs, inadequate nutrition, illiteracy and violence. When they enter school, they are behind other students from day one. The effects snowball as children move through the school system. By the time they graduate from high school, many are ill-prepared to find and hold jobs.

Business leaders who once might have thought that the welfare of toddlers had little or nothing to do with the financial success of their companies are becoming converts to the cause. Fortune magazine recently devoted an issue to the subject: "Children in Crisis: The Struggle to Save America's Kids."

The Connecticut Commission on Children's latest campaign is part of a five-year program called "1,2,3,4,5 Kids Count." The goal of having every child begin school ready to learn is ambitious. The alternative, however, is to watch a generation struggle along a path that often leads to drug abuse, school failure and joblessness. Connecticut can't afford that option.